Undecimal Bio Secures $18M Seed Funding to Advance RNA Medicine Delivery

Undecimal Bio, a biotechnology company emerging from Eleven Therapeutics, has announced the successful closure of an $18 million Seed funding round aimed at addressing a significant challenge in RNA medicines: the delivery of these therapies to specific cells in the body. This funding is crucial for the development of Undecimal's AI-enabled platform, which is designed to facilitate the delivery of gene-silencing medicines beyond their traditional success in the liver.

The financing was co-led by 4BIO Capital and IQ Capital, with participation from several other investors, including Verve Ventures, Harel Tech, Entrée Capital, Kerna Ventures, and Saras Capital. Undecimal plans to utilize the newly acquired funds to further develop its innovative delivery platform known as DELiveri, which is specifically aimed at targeting renovascular diseases.

RNA-based therapies have transformed the treatment landscape for genetic conditions by providing a means to silence specific genes. However, a pervasive issue remains: effectively delivering these therapies to the right cells in the body. While some RNA interference (RNAi) medicines have shown promise in treating liver-related diseases, the broader application to other tissues has proven to be challenging. Undecimal's approach focuses on identifying and utilizing molecular structures capable of effectively delivering small interfering RNA (siRNA) to target cells.

The DELiveri platform employs a unique methodology that screens extensive combinatorial libraries of molecules to find the most effective delivery candidates. By leveraging AI, Undecimal aims to streamline the identification of these molecules, making the process faster and more efficient. This advanced platform not only enhances the systematic search for effective delivery options but also measures the delivery efficacy at a single-molecule resolution, providing valuable data that will inform future development efforts.

Co-founders Dr. Yaniv Erlich and Shaul Ilan lead the company, building on the groundwork established at Eleven Therapeutics, which previously raised $22 million to advance RNA therapies using AI and combinatorial chemistry. Undecimal Bio’s creation underscores the ongoing effort to unlock the full potential of RNA medicines, particularly in addressing diseases where traditional delivery methods have fallen short. As Erlich noted, "The hard problem in RNAi was never the silencing, it was getting the molecule to the right cell." With this funding, Undecimal Bio is well-positioned to tackle these challenges head-on and expand the reach of RNA-based therapeutics beyond their current limitations.